VIRTUAL TRUTH COMMISSION TOPICS

VIRTUAL TRUTH COMMISSION TOPICS

Virtual Truth Commission

Boland Amendment. With the imminent collapse of the Soviet Union, Congress began to challenge Presidenial hegemony, as with the Boland Amendment, barring U. S. support to the Nicaraguan rebels. There, widespread exposure of Contra brutality created a situation where Congress was forced politically to remove U. S. support. Iran-Contra and Consistent Themes During the Cold War

Chiapas, Mexico. Paramilitary, State Police and Army violations, supported by U.S. training, of UDHR Article 3 (life), Article 5 (torture), Article 9 (arbitrary arrest), and Article 20 (peaceful assembly.

Civic Action. The covert U.S. aid and training was mostly innocuous-sounding "civic action," which is generally thought to mean building roads, staffing health clinics and performing other "hearts-and-minds" activities with civilians. But "civic action" also provided cover in Indonesia, as in the Philippines and Vietnam, for psy-war. The secret U.S.-Indonesian military connections paid off for Washington when a political crisis erupted the next summer and fall, threatening Sukarno's government. To counter Indonesia's powerful Communist Party, known as the PKI, the army's Red Berets organized the slaughter of thousands of men, women and children. So many bodies were dumped into the rivers of East Java that they ran red with blood. In a classic psy-war tactic, the bloated carcasses also served as a political warning to villages down river. "To make sure they didn't sink, the carcasses were deliberately tied to, or impaled on, bamboo stakes," wrote eyewitness Pipit Rochijat. "And the departure of corpses from the Kediri region down the Brantas achieved its golden age when bodies were stacked on rafts over which the PKI banner proudly flew." [See Rochijat's "Am I PKI or Non-PKI?" Indonesia, Oct. 1985.] Peter Dale Scott, "Two Indonesias, Two Americas" , June 9, 1998, The Consortium for Independent Journalism.

Counterinsurgency

Counter-terrorism. Category of legislation in the United States expanding powers of police and prosecutors; of great concern to American Civil Liberties Union which has a special page on this topic.

"Covert Operations." Covert operations are placed outside of "normal channels" in order to be able to deny the existence of such operations. Covert operations are obvious to the enemy, which is being engaged by it. "What is meant by 'covert war' is that it remains covert to the American people and specifically Congress." Iran-Contra and Consistent Themes During the Cold War

CIA and Narcotic Sales. History of narcotic sales abetted by official U. S. in order to support counter-insurgency efforts which violate UDHR Article 3 (life), Article 5 (torture), Article 9 (arbitrary arrest), and Article 20 (peaceful assembly.

Death Squads Paramilitary, violations, supported by U.S. training, of UDHR Article 3 (life), Article 5 (torture), Article 9 (arbitrary arrest), and Article 20 (peaceful assembly in Latin America, Vietnam, Indonesia.

Depleted Uranium Nature, use and consequences of depleted uranium

Disappearances in Indonesia and East Timor Paramilitary and Army violations, supported by U.S. training, of UDHR Article 3 (life), Article 5 (torture), Article 9 (arbitrary arrest), and Article 20 (peaceful assembly.

El Salvador Paramilitary and Army violations, supported by U.S. training, of UDHR Article 3 (life), Article 5 (torture), Article 9 (arbitrary arrest), and Article 20 (peaceful assembly.

Evil and Massacres of Children: A Sermon. Mary's Three Challenges, details the foreign policy basis of American involvement in human rights abuses abroad.

Free-fire ZonesThe Huk rebellion also saw the refinement of free-fire zones, a technique used effectively by Bell's forces a half-century earlier. In the 1950s, special squadrons were assigned to do the dirty work. "The special tactic of these squadrons was to cordon off areas; anyone they caught inside the cordon was considered an enemy," explained one pro-U.S. Filipino colonel. "Almost daily you could find bodies floating in the river, many of them victims of [Major Napoleon] Valeriano's Nenita Unit. [See Benedict J. Kerkvliet, The Huk Rebellion: A Study of Peasant Revolt in the Philippines. Peter Dale Scott, "Two Indonesias, Two Americas" , June 9, 1998, The Consortium for Independent Journalism.

National Endowment for Democracy

Intimidation of the Press

Joint Combined Exchange Training

Operation Condor

Project X: A U. S. Army Intelligence project to provide intelligence training to friendly foreign countries, 1965. See Torture Manuals.

Racism . Many of the human rights abuses reported on these pages have a racist component. This report identifies them.

School of the Americas Multiple pages at the site detail human rights abuses including violations of Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 3 (life), Article 5 (torture), Article 9 (arbitrary arrest), and Article 20 (peaceful assembly, emanating from graduates of the United States Army School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Tailwind. CNN/Time have withdrawn their story alleging use of deadly sarin nerve gas in this SOG operation into Laos, but the question remains as to how CNN/Time could report the killing of American "defectors" and dozens of noncombatant women and children in a Laotian village without a sense that such conduct would have been unacceptable had it occurred. April Oliver, the primary author of the story, as of May 1999 was sueing CNN for wrongful dismissal as a means of put her case before the public. See also Intimidation of the Press

Torture Manuals

Virtual Truth Commission: Telling the Truth for a Better America
Home Page
Countries | Multinationals | Names | Dates | Topics | Allies
Chiapas | Counter-Insurgency | CIA-Crack cocaine | JCET | Press Intimidation
Racism | National Endowment for Democracy | School of Americas
Sign Guestbook | View Guestbook | Translation Service

Titles "Virtual Truth Commission" and "Telling the Truth for a Better America" © 1998, Jackson H. Day. All Rights Reserved.
This site is the endeavor of one person. As he finds them, links to published material on the web are provided by country, date, and name. This has started small but has expanded and hopefully will increase in usefulness over time. Others are encouraged to start similar web sites. Reference anything from these pages that you wish; the more sites that contain this material, the more it will enter into public consciousness and make a positive difference for change.
Contact Jack Day, Webmaster

Updated May 30, 2000

This page hosted by Get your own, Free Homepage